Too little, too late?

Teemu Selanne, after taking 53 games off to "ponder retirement," has decided to return to the Anaheim Ducks to play the remaining 29 games in the regular season. But should he be allowed back this season after such a long break? Of course, all Ducks fans will say yes, and I would expect nothing less. Selanne, who is 37 years of age, recorded 48 goals and 46 assists last year while on the Stanley Cup winning Ducks. The fact that I hail from Minnesota and have had a chronic feeling of hatred for the Ducks since last years playoffs has no bearing on the stance I am taking here. I griped about the fact that Wes Walz took an enormous amount of time off from the Wild barely into the season to figure out that he wanted to retire, and if players are going to take forever to figure out if they want to return or not, they should have it figured out before the season starts (of course if some sort of emergency comes up with a player, that's a different story). The Ducks have now had two guys, Selanne and defensemen Scott Neidermayer, that have taken a ton of time off to think about whether they wanted to retire or not. Selanne says that he was on the brink of retiring until he got back to going to games and being with the team.

"If Brian Burke had told me he needed a deadline in training camp or November, I wouldn't be here today," Selanne says.

That deadline that Teemu speaks of is exactly what needs to be implemented to prevent guys from coming in halfway through the season. I know there is already some sort of date that is set for players to return, but that date needs to be moved way up for it to have any effect. Allowing Selanne to join the team now robs a player who has been working hard all season to either get sent down, waived, or traded, all because a veteran decided 53 games into the season he can't step away from the game. I understand how hard it is for these older guys to have to even think about retiring, but seriously, these guys are grown men and they ultimately know what they want to do. Even teams that make it to the Stanley Cup have a couple months to ponder what they want to do regarding playing. Why was it so hard for Selanne and Neidermayer to figure that out in the offseason? The fact that Selanne is deciding to rejoin the team now just looks like he is taking the easy way out. I can just imagine him thinking "Wow, I'm not even playing half of the season yet I can rejoin the team, make millions, and have a shot at another Cup." I believe that if a guy wants to win the Stanley Cup, he should have to go through training camp like the rest of the players on the team and not take the easy way out just because he can. Yes, Selanne's wife just had a baby seven weeks ago, and yes I understand that changes his entire life, but what needs to happen then is for him to sit out the entire season and then think about coming back next year. Now I've never been a big fan of Commissioner Gary Bettman, and I know he won't think anything of this whole situation, but the fact of the matter is there needs to be an earlier deadline set for players to return to action. I would say they have up until the first game of the season to sign a contract. If you haven't signed a contract with a team by the drop of the first puck, then you should have to miss out on the season. Both Selanne and Neidermayer need to show some respect to their organization. I know that GM Brian Burke welcomed both of them back with open arms, but somewhere in the crazy mind of his he's got to be thinking that it's a hell of an inconvienence for these guys to show up when they did. It will be interesting to see if Selanne's return to the Ducks, who are currently in 5th place in the conference, will be positive or negative. I'm sure players and teammates are glad to see him back. Who wouldn't want a 40 goal scorer to rejoin their team? But I also have to believe there are those few players on the team that resent the fact that Selanne was given all that time and now he gets a free pass based on his resume.